Governments around the world are turning over more of their services to private or charitable organizations, as politicians and pundits celebrate participation in civic activities. But can nonprofits provide more and higher-quality services than governments or for-profit businesses? Will nonprofits really increase social connectedness and civic engagement? This book, a sequel to Walter W.

Powell's The Nonprofit Sector: A Research Handbook, brings together an original collection of writings that explores the nature of the "public good" and how private nonprofit organizations relate to it.